Emile BERCHMANS

Rare original color lithograph, executed by Emile Berchmans for L'Estampe Moderne, series number 2 published in June 1897.
One of 50 deluxe proofs printed on Japan paper with wide margins, artist's signature in the plate, publisher's dry stamp depicting a child's profile in the lower margin, numbered luxury edition stamp on verso; engraving preceded by a tissue guard captioned with the artist's name, title and presentation of the artist and another blank tissue guard.
"E. Berchmans is one of the most gifted artists of the young Belgian school; he has particularly distinguished himself among collectors through his posters of ingenious symbolism and delicate coloration. In Renouveau, where a satyr and faun go entwined through the greening forests, we find the qualities of the skillful draftsman and painter enamored with poetry".
Magnificent French monthly publication issued between May 1897 and April 1899, L'Estampe moderne consists of original chromolithographs which, unlike other magazines such as Les Maîtres de l'Affiche and as stipulated on the tissue guards, were created specifically by each artist for the magazine. Thus 100 prints appeared in total, covering the major artistic movements of the late 19th century: Symbolism, Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelites, Orientalists and Belle Epoque. Each issue of four prints was printed in 2000 copies sold for 3.50F and 100 on Japan paper offered at 10F. Henri Piazza also planned a confidential deluxe printing: 50 copies on Japan paper with wide margins and 50 in black on China paper at the considerable price of 30F.
This print in a handsome format is superbly printed in color on the most prestigious of papers: Japan paper. Thick, silky, satiny and pearlescent, it contributes to making each page a work in its own right. Its quality of ink absorption and its affinity with colors also make it the ideal medium for these very fine lithographs.
French collectors' interest in artistic posters intensified in the early 1890s. Octave Uzanne, to describe this fever, invented the term "affichomania". The poster, originally popular and posted in the streets of the capital, then became an art object and its ephemeral medium became precious and destined for preservation.
Piazza decided to remove the poster from its advertising purpose and elevate it to the rank of a complete work of art on par with the luxury illustrated book. He thus composed a prestigious collection of entirely original works by the most prominent European artists of the moment: Georges de Feure, Eugène Grasset, Henri Detouche, Emile Berchmans, Louis Rhead, Gaston de Latenay, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, Gustave-Max Stevens, Charles Doudelet, Hans Christiansen, Henri Fantin-Latour, Steinlen, Ibels, Engels, Willette, Henri Meunier, Evenepoël, Bellery-Desfontaines, Charles Léandre, etc.
Fine copy in the symbolist style of the artist.

Rare original lithograph executed by Emile Berchmans for L'Estampe Moderne, series number 2 published in June 1897.
One of 50 deluxe proofs printed on China paper with wide margins, artist's signature and date in the plate, publisher's dry stamp depicting a child's profile in the lower margin, mounted on a sheet of laid paper with the numbered luxury edition stamp on the verso, occasional marginal foxing.
"E. Berchmans is one of the most gifted artists of the young Belgian school; he has particularly distinguished himself among collectors through his posters of ingenious symbolism and delicate coloration. In Renouveau, where a satyr and faun go entwined through the greening forests, we find the qualities of the skillful draftsman and painter enamored with poetry".
Magnificent French monthly publication issued between May 1897 and April 1899, L'Estampe moderne consists of original chromolithographs which, unlike other magazines such as Les Maîtres de l'Affiche and as stipulated on the tissue guards, were created specifically by each artist for the magazine. Thus 100 prints appeared in total, covering the major artistic movements of the late 19th century: Symbolism, Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelites, Orientalists and Belle Epoque. Each issue of four prints was printed in 2000 copies sold for 3.50F and 100 on Japan paper offered at 10F. Henri Piazza also planned a confidential deluxe printing: 50 copies on Japan paper with wide margins and 50 in black on China paper at the considerable price of 30F.
This print in a handsome format is superbly printed on one of the most prestigious papers: China paper. "Despite all its qualities, China paper, too insubstantial, owes its reputation not to its own beauty, but to its particular affinities with printing ink. Its texture, smooth and soft at once, is more apt than any other to receive a fine printing. This property makes China paper sought after for printing engravings..." (Anatole France).
French collectors' interest in artistic posters intensified in the early 1890s. Octave Uzanne, to describe this fever, invented the term "affichomania". The poster, originally popular and posted in the streets of the capital, then became an art object and its ephemeral medium became precious and destined for preservation.
Piazza decided to remove the poster from its advertising purpose and elevate it to the rank of a complete work of art on par with the luxury illustrated book. He thus composed a prestigious collection of entirely original works by the most prominent European artists of the moment: Georges de Feure, Eugène Grasset, Henri Detouche, Emile Berchmans, Louis Rhead, Gaston de Latenay, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, Gustave-Max Stevens, Charles Doudelet, Hans Christiansen, Henri Fantin-Latour, Steinlen, Ibels, Engels, Willette, Henri Meunier, Evenepoël, Bellery-Desfontaines, Charles Léandre, etc.
Fine copy in the symbolist style of the artist.